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NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks have opened lower as investors cautiously await the beginning of first-quarter earnings reports this week.

Signs of trouble in talks between IBM and Sun Microsystems are also weighing on the market.

Investors are anxious ahead of first-quarter earnings season, which kicks off with Alcoa’s report on Tuesday. Analysts warn that worse-than-expected reports could upset the market’s four-week rally that has sent the Dow Jones industrials up 22.5 percent since early March.

There are no economic reports or major earnings announcements scheduled for Monday.

In the first few minutes of trading, the Dow is down 45 to 7,972. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down nearly 5 points to 837, and the Nasdaq composite index is down 20 to 1,601.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street headed for a lower open on Monday as investors cautiously await the beginning of first-quarter earnings season this week.

U.S. stock futures, which got an early boost from advances in overseas markets, gave up the early gains and fell moderately ahead of the open. Signs of trouble in talks between IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. weighed on the market.

Investors have been more optimistic in recent weeks, sending the Dow Jones industrials up 22.5 percent since early March, as economic data has shown some signs of improvement, and as governments around the globe make efforts to end the worldwide recession.

This week, investors will begin pouring over first-quarter earnings for more clues on where the economy is headed _ and analysts warn that worse-than-expected reports could upset the market’s run-up. Even more important than companies’ results will be their forecasts for the remainder of the year. Sectors that will be in particular focus include banking, retail, technology and industrial.

“Companies have to come across with commentary that the worst is passed,” said Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at BNY ConvergEx. “That is the most critical thing and you have to hear it from a broad range of companies in a wide variety of industries.”

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. kicks off earnings season on Tuesday. There are no economic reports or major earnings announcements scheduled for Monday.

IBM’s talks with Sun Microsystems appeared to be in jeopardy Monday, adding to the market’s jitters. The discussions were in their final stages in recent days, but The Associated Press learned that IBM took its $7 billion offer off the table on Sunday after Sun terminated IBM’s status as its exclusive negotiating partner.

It was unclear whether talks were continuing, or if Sun was trying to find an alternative suitor to IBM. Sun shares plunged more than 20 percent in pre-market trading.

On Friday, the Dow rose 39 points to close above the 8,000 mark for the first time in nearly two months, logging a fourth straight week of gains and its best performance since 1933.

Even a bleak jobs report on Friday wasn’t enough to rattle Wall Street’s newfound confidence that has lifted the major indexes from 12-year lows in early March.

The financial sector, which has largely carried the recent rally, will remain in top focus, as investors await results of the government’s stress tests of the nation’s biggest banks. The stress tests, which aim to determine which banks might be in need of more capital if economic conditions worsen, are expected to be complete by the end of this month.

Over the weekend, London-based bank HSBC raised about $18 billion in a successful stock offering.

U.S. Treasurys rose slightly early Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.89 percent from 2.90 percent late Friday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell $1.13 to $51.38 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.